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Football club's charity awarded Children in Need grant

The Cobblers' Community Trust will receive £27,000 to help boost the confidence and wellbeing of children.




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Children evacuated from football ground fire

The fire in Hailsham is being treated as suspected deliberate ignition, police say.




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Fan reported over 'Where's Baldock?' message

Sheffield Wednesday fan holds up sign saying 'Where's Baldock?' during match with Sheffield United.




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Jackett steps down as Gillingham director of football

Kenny Jackett stands down from his role as Gillingham's director of football for medical reasons.




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Nine-year-old girl's rise through boys football

Iris has played in boys teams since she was four, and has now broken into Aston Villa’s girls team.




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Swedish football fans turn city green and white

Stockholm-based women's football club Hammarby is known for its large and vociferous fanbase.




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Football club back home after six years away

Youth games restarted at Faraday Road last year but the first senior men's game was on Saturday.




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Football supporter banned for homophobic comment

The fan is barred from attending any matches for two seasons, following an investigation.




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Reddich MP "vital football remains affordable"

MP Chris Bloore wants increased fan representation on club boards to protect the game.




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Hereford's global grilling megastars go stateside

The Beefy Boys are in the running to be crowned the World's Best Burger!




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Beach volleyball teen celebrates gold medal hat trick

Bournemouth schoolboy Lucas , 15, was called up to the England junior squad earlier this year.




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Racist abuse is 'part of' football - Forde

Racism is 'unfortunately part of' football said Bristol Rovers forward Shaq Forde, after he was sent online abuse last month.




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What's the future of the football league aged 120

The Bristol Downs League has been going for almost 120 years but how can they solidify its future?




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No Comment : des slackliners se balancent entre des montgolfières à 2 500 mètres d'altitude

No Comment : des slackliners se balancent entre des montgolfières à 2 500 mètres d'altitude




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No Comment : en Serbie, des centaines d’œufs jetés sur le siège d’Euro Lithium Balkan

No Comment : en Serbie, des centaines d’œufs jetés sur le siège d’Euro Lithium Balkan




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No Comment : l'éruption d'un volcan cloue les avions au sol à Bali

No Comment : l'éruption d'un volcan cloue les avions au sol à Bali




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Deux jeunes tués par balle dans un centre éducatif de l'Iowa

(Belga) Deux personnes ont été tuées et une troisième a été gravement blessée lundi dans un centre pour jeunes à Des Moines, dans l'État américain de l'Iowa (centre), a annoncé la police.

Après un appel d'urgence, les forces de l'ordre qui se sont rendues à l'établissement "Starts Right Here", un programme d'aide aux jeunes en difficulté, ont découvert trois personnes blessées par balle, dont deux "très grièvement". "Ces deux personnes, deux élèves, sont mortes (...). La troisième personne, qui est employée par l'établissement, est dans un état grave", a dit à la presse Paul Parizek, un porte-parole de la police de Des Moines. La police n'était pas encore en mesure de préciser l'âge exact des deux victimes. "Je ne sais pas s'ils sont adultes ou (...) adolescents mineurs", a dit M. Parizek. Sur la foi de descriptions de témoins, la police a arrêté un véhicule et détenu "trois suspects potentiels". L'enquête se poursuit, a-t-elle dit dans un communiqué. La gouverneure de l'Iowa, Kim Reynolds, s'est dite "choquée et attristée" par la fusillade. (Belga)




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Injury prediction analysis of college basketball players based on FMS scores

It is inevitable for basketball players to have physical injury in sports. Reducing basketball injury is one of the main aims of the study of basketball. In view of this, this paper proposes a monocular vision and FMS injury prediction model for basketball players. Aiming at the limitations of traditional FMS testing methods, this study introduces intelligent machine learning methods. In this study, random forest algorithm was introduced into OpenPose network to improve model node occlusion, missed detection or false detection. In addition, to reduce the computational load of the network, the original OpenPose network was replaced by a lightweight OpenPose network. The experimental results show that the average processing time of the proposed model is about 90 ms, and the output video frame rate is 10 frames per second, which can meet the real-time requirements. This study analysed the students participating in the basketball league of the College of Sports Science of Nantong University, and the results confirmed the accuracy of the injury prediction of college basketball players based on FMS scores. It is hoped that this study can provide some reference for the research of injury prevention of basketball players.




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BEFA: bald eagle firefly algorithm enabled deep recurrent neural network-based food quality prediction using dairy products

Food quality is defined as a collection of properties that differentiate each unit and influences acceptability degree of food by users or consumers. Owing to the nature of food, food quality prediction is highly significant after specific periods of storage or before use by consumers. However, the accuracy is the major problem in the existing methods. Hence, this paper presents a BEFA_DRNN approach for accurate food quality prediction using dairy products. Firstly, input data is fed to data normalisation phase, which is performed by min-max normalisation. Thereafter, normalised data is given to feature fusion phase that is conducted employing DNN with Canberra distance. Then, fused data is subjected to data augmentation stage, which is carried out utilising oversampling technique. Finally, food quality prediction is done wherein milk is graded employing DRNN. The training of DRNN is executed by proposed BEFA that is a combination of BES and FA. Additionally, BEFA_DRNN obtained maximum accuracy, TPR and TNR values of 93.6%, 92.5% and 90.7%.




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Female academics in higher education institutes and their work-life balance strategies: a voiceless saga

Work-life balance (WLB) is a widely explored topic in the academic discourse. The researchers are trying to find strategies to effectively balance their work and home responsibilities for women in management. This study aims to analyse how gender roles and inequalities shape the strategies of female academics in higher education institutions. Eighteen faculty members participated in the semi-structured interviews. The trustworthiness of qualitative inquiry was ascertained by using triangulation, thick descriptions, and peer reviews. Three major themes emerged from the analysis: emotional, religious and social strategies. Despite available support, faculty noted challenges in managing work and family roles and fighting with gender stereotypes. This research adds to the emerging concept of WLB literature from the developed countries' viewpoint. It also shows how WLB discourse varies from Western sensibilities and collaborates with the previously established strategies that female academics formulate in WLB.




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Global warming awareness among Jordanian university students

This study aimed to assess the level of GW in Jordanian university students and compare the level of awareness of students according to their academic level (high and low), faculty (science and humanities), gender (male and female), and year of study (first and final years). This study is quantitative research that provides a comprehensive view of GW in Jordanian universities. A total of 383 university students of currently registered undergraduate programs from six independent universities in Jordan were recruited. An online questionnaire covering three aspects of GW was sent to participants in December 2020. Inferential and descriptive statistics were used to analyse data. Participants had 'good' (67%) overall knowledge about GW, a 'very good' level of GW causes (81%), and a 'poor' level of knowledge about the GW impacts on humans and the environment (47%) and knowledge about GW possible solutions (59%). Significant differences were founded between males and females, students from scientific faculties and students from other faculties, students with higher academic achievement than lower achievement in the total GW knowledge. But no significant differences were between students in the first year and the final years.




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Finding a balance between business and ethics: an empirical study of ERP-based DSS attributes

Numerous scandals due to unethical decisions occur despite the growing use of decision support systems (DSS). Several scholars recommend incorporating ethical attributes along with business requirements in DSS design. However, little guidance exists to indicate which ethical attributes to include and the importance ethical attributes should be given in comparison to business requirements. This study addresses this deficiency by identifying ethical requirements to integrate in DSS design drawn from the business ethics literature. This study conducted a large-scale empirical survey with information technology decision-makers to examine the relative importance of DSS fit with ethical and business requirements as well as the appropriate balance of those requirements on perceived DSS performance. The results show that decision makers perceive better DSS performance when the ethical and business requirements align with its organisation's beliefs than from ethical or business requirements alone.




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Adding a new Language to VB .NET Globalization: Making the Case for the Kurdish Languages




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It is Time to Add Kurdish Culture to VS .NET Globalization




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A Data Driven Conceptual Analysis of Globalization — Cultural Affects and Hofstedian Organizational Frames: The Slovak Republic Example




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The Need to Balance the Blend: Online versus Face-to-Face Teaching in an Introductory Accounting Subject




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The Role of IT in the Ethics of Globalization




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Securing the Information and Communications Technology Global Supply Chain from Exploitation: Developing a Strategy for Education, Training, and Awareness




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Cloud Computing as an Enabler of Agile Global Software Development

Agile global software development (AGSD) is an increasingly prevalent software development strategy, as organizations hope to realize the benefits of accessing a larger resource pool of skilled labor, at a potentially reduced cost, while at the same time delivering value incrementally and iteratively. However, the distributed nature of AGSD creates geographic, temporal, socio-cultural distances that challenge collaboration between project stakeholders. The Cloud Computing (CC) service models of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) are similar to the aspirant qualities of AGSD as they provide services that are globally accessible, efficient, and stable, with lower predictable operating costs that scale to meet the computational demand. This study focused on the 12 agile principles upon which all agile methodologies are based, therein potentially increasing the potential for the findings to be generalized. Domestication Theory was used to assist in understanding how cloud technologies were appropriated in support of AGSD. The research strategy took the form of case study research. The findings suggest that some of the challenges in applying the agile principles in AGSD may be overcome by using CC.




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The Use of Kanban to Alleviate Collaboration and Communication Challenges of Global Software Development

Aim/Purpose: This paper aims to describe how various Kanban elements can help alleviate two prominent types of challenges, communication and collaboration in Global Software Development (GSD). Background: Iterative and Lean development methodologies like Kanban have gained significance in the software development industry, both in the co-located and globally distributed contexts. However, little is known on how such methodologies can help mitigate various challenges in that occur in a globally distributed software development context. Methodology: The study was conducted using a single-case study based on a general inductive approach to analysis and theory development. Through the literature review, collaboration and communication challenges that GSD teams face were identified. Data collected through semi-structured interviews was then inductively analyzed to describe how the case-study teams employed various Kanban elements to mitigate communication and collaboration challenges they face during GSD. Findings: The study found that some Kanban elements, when properly employed, can help alleviate collaboration and communication challenges that occur within GSD teams. These relate to Inclusion Criteria, Reverse Items, Kanban Board, Policies, Avatars, and Backlog. Contribution: The paper contributes to knowledge by proposing two simple concept maps that detail the specific types of communication and collaboration challenges which can be alleviated by the aforementioned Kanban elements in GSD. Recommendations for Practitioners: This paper is relevant to GSD teams who are seeking ways to enhance their team collaboration and communication as these are the most important elements that contribute to GSD project success. It is recommended that relevant Kanban elements be used to that effect, depending on the challenges that they aim to alleviate. Future Research: Future research can investigate the same research questions (or similar ones) using a quantitative approach.




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The Role of Informing Systems in Securing Sanity and Wisdom of the Globalizing Society in the Context of Civilization Sustainability in the 21st Century: The Case of Poland

Aim/Purpose: To monitor Sustainability Development Goals (SDG) established by the United Nations through the hierarchical architecture of informing systems Background: The paper discusses the case of Poland and its Gdansk region Contribution: The solution combines the big-picture of civilization with small-picture of a nation, regions, cities, and firms Findings: The presented solution can be implemented if the political will can be secured. Recommendations for Practitioners: Take the main idea of this paper and adapt to your local case. Recommendation for Researchers: Develop some prototypes of presented informing systems and test in your local environment Impact on Society: The success of the sustainability of globalizing society can be secured if the coherent informing systems can be applied to the planning, monitoring, and implementation of the UN's universal SDG. Future Research: Work on the modeling of costs and benefits of the presented solution.




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An Initiative to Address the Gender Imbalance in Tertiary IT Studies




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Factors Determining the Balance between Online and Face-to-Face Teaching: An Analysis using Actor-Network Theory




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Improving the Accuracy of Facial Micro-Expression Recognition: Spatio-Temporal Deep Learning with Enhanced Data Augmentation and Class Balancing

Aim/Purpose: This study presents a novel deep learning-based framework designed to enhance spontaneous micro-expression recognition by effectively increasing the amount and variety of data and balancing the class distribution to improve recognition accuracy. Background: Micro-expression recognition using deep learning requires large amounts of data. Micro-expression datasets are relatively small, and their class distribution is not balanced. Methodology: This study developed a framework using a deep learning-based model to recognize spontaneous micro-expressions on a person’s face. The framework also includes several technical stages, including image and data preprocessing. In data preprocessing, data augmentation is carried out to increase the amount and variety of data and class balancing to balance the distribution of sample classes in the dataset. Contribution: This study’s essential contribution lies in enhancing the accuracy of micro-expression recognition and overcoming the limited amount of data and imbalanced class distribution that typically leads to overfitting. Findings: The results indicate that the proposed framework, with its data preprocessing stages and deep learning model, significantly increases the accuracy of micro-expression recognition by overcoming dataset limitations and producing a balanced class distribution. This leads to improved micro-expression recognition accuracy using deep learning techniques. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners can utilize the model produced by the proposed framework, which was developed to recognize spontaneous micro-expressions on a person’s face, by implementing it as an emotional analysis application based on facial micro-expressions. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers involved in the development of a spontaneous micro-expression recognition framework for analyzing hidden emotions from a person’s face are playing an essential role in advancing this field and continue to search for more innovative deep learning-based solutions that continue to explore techniques to increase the amount and variety of data and find solutions to balancing the number of sample classes in various micro-expression datasets. They can further improvise to develop deep learning model architectures that are more suitable and relevant according to the needs of recognition tasks and the various characteristics of different datasets. Impact on Society: The proposed framework could significantly impact society by providing a reliable model for recognizing spontaneous micro-expressions in real-world applications, ranging from security systems and criminal investigations to healthcare and emotional analysis. Future Research: Developing a spontaneous micro-expression recognition framework based on spatial and temporal flow requires the learning model to classify optimal features. Our future work will focus more on exploring micro-expression features by developing various alternative learning models and increasing the weights of spatial and temporal features.




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Learning to (Co)Evolve: A Conceptual Review and Typology of Network Design in Global Health Virtual Communities of Practice

Aim/Purpose: This conceptual review analyzes the designs of global health virtual communities of practice (VCoPs) programming reported in the empirical literature and proposes a new typology of their functioning. The purpose of this review is to provide clarity on VCoP learning stages of (co)evolution and insight into VCoP (re)development efforts to best meet member, organization, and network needs against an ever-evolving landscape of complexity in global health. Background: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the field of global health has seen an uptick in the use of VCoPs to support continuous learning and improve health outcomes. However, evidence of how different combinations of programmatic designs impact opportunities for learning and development is lacking, and how VCoPs evolve as learning networks has yet to be explored. Methodology: Following an extensive search for literature in six databases, thematic analysis was conducted on 13 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. This led to the development and discussion of a new typology of VCoP phases of learning (co)evolution. Contribution: Knowledge gained from this review and the new categorization of VCoPs can support the functioning and evaluation of global health training programs. It can also provide a foundation for future research on how VCoPs influence the culture of learning organizations and networks. Findings: Synthesis of findings resulted in the categorization of global health VCoPs into five stages (slightly evolving, somewhat revolving, moderately revolving, highly revolving, and coevolving) across four design domains (network development, general member engagement before/after sessions, general member engagement during sessions, and session leadership). All global health VCoPs reviewed showed signs of adaptation and recommended future evolution. Recommendations for Practitioners: VCoP practitioners should pay close attention to how the structured flexibility of partnerships, design, and relationship development/accountability may promote or hinder VcoP’s continued evolution. Practitioners should shift perspective from short to mid- and long-term VCoP planning. Recommendation for Researchers: The new typology can stimulate further research to strengthen the clarity of language and findings related to VCoP functioning. Impact on Society: VCoPs are utilized by academic institutions, the private sector, non-profit organizations, the government, and other entities to fill gaps in adult learning at scale. The contextual implementation of findings from this study may impact VCoP design and drive improvements in opportunities for learning, global health, and well-being. Future Research: Moving forward, future research could explore how VCoP evaluations relate to different stages of learning, consider evaluation stages across the totality of VCoP programming design, and explore how best to capture VCoP (long-term) impact attributed to health outcomes and the culture of learning organizations and networks.




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Value Creation through IT-supported Knowledge Management? The Utilisation of a Knowledge Management System in a Global Consulting Company




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Informing in the Flat, Rough World: Balancing Globalization Gone Awry




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Global Agile Team Design: An Informing Science Perspective




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Communicating Transdisciplinary Characteristics In Global Regulatory Affairs: An Example From Health Professions Education

Aim/Purpose: This paper describes the regulatory affairs discipline as a useful case in the study of both inter- and transdisciplinary science and dynamics related to communication across multiple boundaries. We will 1) outline the process that led to the development of transnational competencies for regulatory affairs graduate education, 2) discuss how the process highlights the transdisciplinary character of regulatory affairs, 3) provide implications for how to communicate the influence of this characterization to future healthcare professionals, and 4) draw conclusions regarding how our lessons-learned might inform other programs of study. Background: In the past few decades, the regulatory affairs profession has become more internationalized. This prompted the need for new competencies grounded in the transnational and cross-disciplinary contexts in which these professionals are required to operate. Methodology: A convenience sample of experienced regulatory affairs professionals from multiple disciplines contributed to the development of transnational competencies for a master’s program in regulatory affairs using a transdisciplinary framework. Contribution: An applied exemplar in which to understand how transdisciplinary characteristics can be communicated and applied in higher education. Recommendations for Practitioners: This paper recommends how competencies developed from a regulatory affairs program can serve as exemplars for other applied transdisciplinary higher education programs. Impact on Society: This framework provides a seldom-used reflective approach to regulatory affairs education that utilizes cross-disciplinary theory to inform competence-based formation of professionals.




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Transdisciplinarity: Marginal Direction or Global Approach of Contemporary Science?

Aim/Purpose: The article is designed to contradict the existing opinion that “transdisciplinarity is a marginal direction of contemporary science.” Background: The difficulties of implementing transdisciplinarity into science and education are connected with the fact that its generally accepted definition, identification characteristics, and methodological features are still missing. In order to eliminate these disadvantages of transdisciplinarity, its prime cause and initial idea had to be detected. Then an attempt was made to analyze correspondence of the existing opinions about transdisciplinarity with the content of its prime cause and initial ideas. Methodology: The bibliometric content analysis of the literature reviews on the subject of transdisciplinary was used in order to determine correspondence of the opinions about transdisciplinarity with the meaning of its prime cause and initial ideas, as well as to generalize these opinions. This method allowed detecting and classifying opinions into 11 groups including 39 stereotypes of transdisciplinarity. For substantiation of transdisciplinary approaches consistency with the approaches of the contemporary science C.F. Gauss random variables normal distribution was used. The “Gauss curve” helped to show the place of transdisciplinary and systems transdisciplinary approaches in the structure of academic and systems approaches. The “Gauss curve” demonstrated the step-by-step broadening of the scientific worldview horizon due to sequential intensification of synthesis, integration, unification, and generalization of the disciplinary knowledge. Contribution: Based on rethinking the results from bibliometric content analysis of the literature reviews, the generalized definition of transdisciplinarity could be formulated, as well as the definition for the transdisciplinary and systems transdisciplinary approaches could be given. It was shown that transdisciplinarity is a natural stage for development of contemporary science and education, and the transdisciplinary approaches were capable to suggest the methods and tools to solve the complex and poorly structured problems of science and society. Findings: Many existing stereotypes of transdisciplinarity do not meet its prime cause and initial ideas. Such stereotypes do not have deep philosophic and theoretical substantiation, as well as not suggesting the transdisciplinary methods and tools. Thus, the authors of such stereotypes often claim them to be transdisciplinary or suggest perceiving them as transdisciplinarity. This circumstance contributed to the fact that many disciplinary scientists, practitioners, and initiators of higher education view transdisciplinarity as a marginal direction of contemporary science. Based on the generalized definition of transdisciplinarity, as well as its prime cause and initial ideas, we managed to show that transdisciplinarity is presented in contemporary science in the form of two different approaches: the transdisciplinary approach and the systems transdisciplinary approaches. The objective of the transdisciplinary approach is ensuring science development at the stage of synthesis and integration of disciplinary knowledge. The objective of the systems transdisciplinary approach is ensuring solving of modern society problems using unification and generalization of disciplinary knowledge. Recommendation for Researchers: The researchers should consider that within the limits of the transdisciplinary approach the disciplinary specialists are managed. Within the limits of the systems transdisciplinary approach the disciplinary knowledge is managed. Thus, the transdisciplinary approach is efficient for organization and research with participation of the scientists of complementary disciplines. An example for such research can be a team of researchers of medical disciplines and complimentary disciplines from chemistry, physics, and engineering. The systems transdisciplinary approach is efficient for organization and performance of research with participation of scientists of non-complementary disciplines, for example, economics, physics, meteorology, chemistry, ecology, geology, and sociology. Future Research: In terms of the main initial idea, transdisciplinarity is formed as a global approach. The global approach should have a traditional institutional form: it should be a science discipline (meta-discipline) and have carriers with the transdisciplinary worldview. Training for such carriers can be organized by the universities within the limits of the systems transdisciplinarity departments and Centers of Systems Transdisciplinary Retraining for Disciplinary Specialists. Thus, it is reasonable to initiate discussion for the idea to reform the disciplinary structure of the universities considering creation of such departments and centers.




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Tribal Self-Determination and the Protection of Cultural Property

This article is part of the 2024 BCLT-BTLJ-CMTL Symposium.  Angela R. Riley When my tribe, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation of Oklahoma (CPN), established an Eagle Aviary to protect and care for injured eagles that could no longer survive in the wild, it did so with a few goals in mind. ...

The post Tribal Self-Determination and the Protection of Cultural Property appeared first on Berkeley Technology Law Journal.




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Hybrid of machine learning-based multiple criteria decision making and mass balance analysis in the new coconut agro-industry product development

Product innovation has become a crucial part of the sustainability of the coconut agro-industry in Indonesia, covering upstream and downstream sides. To overcome this challenge, it is necessary to create several model stages using a hybrid method that combines machine learning based on multiple criteria decision making and mass balance analysis. The research case study was conducted in Tembilahan district, Riau province, Indonesia, one of the primary coconut producers in Indonesia. The analysis results showed that potential products for domestic customers included coconut milk, coconut cooking oil, coconut chips, coconut jelly, coconut sugar, and virgin coconut oil. Furthermore, considering the experts, the most potential product to be developed was coconut sugar with a weight of 0.26. Prediction of coconut sugar demand reached 13,996,607 tons/year, requiring coconut sap as a raw material up to 97,976,249.




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Unearned Status Gain: Evidence From a Global Language Mandate

Theories of status rarely address unearned status gain—an unexpected and unsolicited increase in relative standing, prestige or worth, attained not through individual effort or achievement, but from a shift in organizationally valued characteristics. We build theory about unearned status gain drawing from a qualitative study of 90 U.S.-based employees of a Japanese organization following a company-wide English language mandate. These native English-speaking employees believed that the mandate elevated their worth in the organization, a status gain they attributed to chance, hence deeming it unearned. They also reported a heightened sense of belonging, optimism about career advancement, and access to expanded networks. Yet among those who interacted regularly with Japanese counterparts, narratives also revealed discomfort, which manifested in at least two ways. These informants engaged in "status rationalization," emphasizing the benefits Japanese employees might obtain by learning English, and prevaricated on whether the change was temporary or durable, a process we call "status stability appraisal." The fact that these narratives were present only among those working closely with Japanese employees highlights intergroup contact as a factor in shaping the unearned status gain experience. Supplemental analysis of data gathered from 66 Japanese employees provided the broader organizational context and the nonnative speakers' perspective of the language shift. These findings expand our overall understanding of status dynamics in organizations, and show how status gains can yield both positive and negative outcomes.




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Review: Global Leadership Practices: A Cross-Cultural Management Perspective

Do you teach anyone whom you would consider a member of the next generation of global leaders? If you answered "yes" to this question, you likely teach an audience within which many of its members already possess intercultural experience, have traveled widely, and perhaps speak several languages. These globally minded students demand in-depth learning approaches which help them prepare for complex global leadership settings. Global Leadership Practices is an excellent source of teaching materials and tools targeted to these learners.




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Review: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders, Globalization, and Sustainable Value Creation

In Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility (3rd edition) (SCSR), David Chandler and William B. Werther Jr. advance the view that the ability of firms to create value for a range of stakeholders over the medium- and long-term requires that they embed CSR into their strategies and operations. Its focus on the integration of CSR into strategic planning and implementation distinguishes SCSR from competing business and society textbooks, which tend to survey the field or focus on the management of the firm's relationships with stakeholders and society.




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NI teachers unions ballot members on strike

The pay dispute could also spread to include the Northern Ireland Civil Service.




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Man who ran illegal football streaming service jailed

Jonathan Edge was caught selling reprogrammed Firestick devices after advertising on Facebook.




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Finding a balance

HEINEKEN MALAYSIA BERHAD (Heineken Malaysia) recently announced that it had achieved a significant sustainability milestone in its mission to balance more than 100% of water used in its products.

Thanks to strides made under its Every Drop water strategy, the company was able to achieve this goal last year, 10 years ahead of schedule.

Speaking at the virtual launch of the Company’s Water Balancing Report 2020, Heineken Malaysia managing director Roland Bala said: “Water is central to Heineken and indeed a precious resource that is essential to all life. Our efforts in protecting our water resources over the years have enabled us to fully balance water used to brew our beers and ciders.

“We have an ambitious target to balance 1.5 litres for every 1 litre of water used in making our products.”

He added that last year, through initiatives like river and peatland conservation, rainwater harvesting, reforestation, and other community initiatives, Heineken Malaysia exceeded its water balancing target by 267%.

Heineken Malaysia’s water balancing achievements are quantified in line with international industry-standard methodologies consistent with the Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting framework published by the World Resources Institute. The results are independently validated and verified by LimnoTech, a leading international environmental science and engineering firm based in the USA.

Also at the launch were Heineken Malaysia corporate affairs and legal director Renuka Indrarajah and mananger for the RIVER Care Programme of GEC Dr. Kalithasan Kailasam, who spoke at length about the company’s various other initiatives under the W.A.T.E.R Project, a partnership between SPARK Foundation and GEC, which started in 2007.

Among the success stories were:

● The rehabilitation of Sungai Way, an urban river in an urban industrial zone, resulting in the improvement of the river’s water quality from Class IV – V (extremely polluted, not suitable for living organisms) to Class III (suitable for living organisms);

● Construction of a 305m clay dyke at the Raja Musa Forest Reserve that stores up to 136.1 million litres of water annually, contributing to the long-term sustainability of Sungai Selangor;

● Installation of over 1,000 water thimbles for more than 500 households in the Klang Valley, which resulted in water savings of 19 litres per capita per day on average;

● Installation of 16 rainwater harvesting systems for communities in Selangor, thus providing them with an alternative water source and reduce reliance on treated water for non-potable usage as well as relieving pressure on our water resources;

● Reforestation of one hectare of degraded peatland at the Raja Musa Forest Reserve, which reduces the risk of peat fires and increases the peatland’s water table, contributing to the health of Sungai Air Hitam within the Sungai Selangor watershed.

Roland added that he was optimistic that the company, buoyed by this recent achievement, would achieve the rest of its planned sustainability targets going forward.

“It is challenging,” he said, “but we believe in Heineken’s [mission]. We can do it as an organisation, and we are committed to do what we need to get there.”

Heineken Malaysia’s Water Balancing Report 2020 is available to the public via this link.




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Airlines around Asia ground Bali flights after volcano erupts

JAKARTA: Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore cancelled flights to and from the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Wednesday, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower miles into the sky.

Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a nine-kilometre (5.6-mile) tower a day earlier.

Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as cancelled on Wednesday, according to an AFP journalist at Bali’s international airport.

“Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,“ said AirAsia as it announced several cancellations.

Multiple eruptions from the 1,703-metre (5,587-foot) twin-peaked volcano in recent weeks have killed nine people, with 31 injured and more than 11,000 evacuated, Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency said Tuesday.

Eruptions can pose serious risks to flights, disgorging fine ash that can damage jet engines and scour a plane’s windscreen to the point of invisibility.

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific also listed its flights as cancelled, rescheduling routes to and from Bali until Thursday.

“Virgin Australia has made some changes to its current flight schedule, due to the impacts of the volcano in Indonesia,“ the airline said, listing scrapped flights to Sydney and Melbourne.

Jetstar said all flights to and from Bali would be halted until noon on Thursday.

“Due to volcanic ash caused by the Mount Lewotobi eruption in Indonesia, it is currently not safe to operate flights to and from Bali,“ the company said in an advisory.

Qantas said “a number of flights to and from Denpasar Airport in Bali have been disrupted” due to volcanic ash from Lewotobi.

Malaysia Airlines said it had cancelled six flights Wednesday in a statement on its website.

The airlines said they would monitor the volcano’s status and provide updates.

Singapore’s Scoot and Malaysia’s AirAsia did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. Singapore Airlines was still listing its flights as running on Wednesday.

refunds, rescheduling, re-routing

Ahmad Syaugi Shahab, general manager of Bali’s international airport, said 12 domestic and 22 international flights had been affected on Tuesday, without identifying the routes.

He did not provide details about affected flights on Wednesday’s schedule.

“Due to this natural event impacting flight operations, airlines are offering affected passengers the options of refunds, rescheduling, or re-routing,“ he added in a statement.

Bali’s international airport operator PT Angkasa Pura Indonesia said Wednesday it had conducted tests in its airspace and no volcanic ash was detected, saying the airport was “operating as normal”.

Lewotobi erupted again from midnight Wednesday until early morning, and a large ash column could be seen pouring from its crater, an AFP journalist nearby said.

Laki-Laki, which means “man” in Indonesian, is twinned with a calmer volcano named after the Indonesian word for “woman”.

The island’s economy is heavily reliant on tourism but Indonesia is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth, straddling the Pacific Ring of Fire where tectonic plates collide.

Lombok, an island neighbouring Bali, was rocked by earthquakes in 2018 that killed more than 500 and sparked a mass exodus of foreigners from the tropical paradise.




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TM Global to expand data centres in Cyberjaya and Johor to meet growing demand

PETALING JAYA: TM Global, the wholesale business arm of Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), will expand its Klang Valley Data Centre (KVDC) in Cyberjaya and Iskandar Puteri Data Centre (IPDC) in Johor, addressing the growing demand for domestic and international data hosting services.

This is the next phase in TM’s strategic roadmap to grow its infrastructure ecosystem and position Malaysia as a preferred digital hub in Southeast Asia, aligning with its aspiration to become a digital powerhouse by 2030.

These expansions and TM’s partnership with Nxera to develop a hyperconnected, artificial intelligence-ready data centre, lays the foundation for digital services such as cloud, advanced analytics, AI and the Internet of Things.

Scheduled to begin commercial operations in 2025, the second phase of both KVDC and IPDC will deliver a combined IT load of about 20MW. The expansion will meet Uptime Institute’s Tier-III standards, and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver Rating for long-term sustainability, a globally recognised green building certification.

TM Global executive vice-president Khairul Liza Ibrahim said, “KVDC and IPDC are integral infrastructures in Malaysia’s digital ecosystem, serving as international gateways and interconnected points to support 5G networks. This second phase of our data centre expansion will feature sustainable designs, boosting our capacity to support hyperscalers,

OTT players, cloud and next generation AI providers, as well as enterprises.”

TM Global’s data centres are complemented by seven regional Edge Facilities located throughout the country. These support high-performance computing and co-location services to bring content closer to end-users with minimal latency.

“We have enhanced our data hosting services with a recent acquisition of the Facilities-Based Operator licence in Singapore, allowing us to provide seamless, secure data centre-to-data centre connectivity through our extensive domestic fibre optics network and international submarine cable systems. This enables us to meet the growing connectivity demands across the region, linking data centres from Thailand to Malaysia, Singapore, and Batam in Indonesia,” Khairul Liza said.

TM Global offers a comprehensive suite of platform-based services, including multi-edge computing and content delivery, to elevate data hosting solutions. These services are tailored to optimise performance and efficiency, ensuring a robust and reliable data-driven network for customers. Leveraging its extensive network infrastructure, TM Global equips carriers, enterprises, hyperscalers, over-the-top services, and next-generation AI application providers with the tools necessary to drive innovation and seamless digital integration.